New Initiative

The Chief Election Commissioner of India Mr. O P Rawat, Election Commissioners Mr. Sunil Arora and Mr. Ashok Lavasa launched the special issue of the VoICE International(April-September 2018) magazine in Chief Electoral Officer’s Conference on October 4, 2018 at ECI Headquarters.
The theme of the special issue (April – September 2018) of Volume II of the magazine is ‘Voter Education through Educational Institutions’. It primarily focuses on introducing greater electoral awareness and sensitivity among the future generation of voters and electoral participants; an issue that has great significance and relevance for investment in the future of Electoral Democracy.
Apathy of the youth towards electoral participation and non-exercise of their franchise by a large proportion of them is a major concern in several democratic countries. In this respect, effective electoral literacy programmes through school and college level initiatives are an important means of encouraging participation of youth in the electoral process. Further, the outreach of electoral literacy initiatives can be increased manifold through the use of electronic, internet and social media. Most of the democracies across the world, conscious of the importance of such initiatives have taken significant steps towards introducing several initiatives toward their electoral literacy programmes using both formal and informal channels. This issue highlights such initiatives across the world.
Apart from contributions on the core theme, the magazine also features other articles by member Election Management Bodies(EMBs) on other important and pertinent subjects. The e-book of the magazine is available at http://voicenet.in/. All the prior issues (e-book/ pdf) of VoICE International are available at http://voicenet.in/voiceinternational.htm.
VoICE International is the quarterly e-publication on the VoICE.NET (Voter Information, Communication and Education Network) portal, a Global Knowledge Network for sharing knowledge, resources and expertise on Voter Education.
VoICE.NET was launched on October 20, 2016 at the International Conference on Voter Education for Inclusive, Informed and Ethical Participation held at New Delhi. The Global Knowledge Network is a part of the New Delhi Declaration adopted at the Conference by the 25 Election Management Bodies and representatives from UNDP, International IDEA, IFES and Malaysian Commonwealth Studies Centre. At present, VoICE.NET has 27 members, which includes Election Management Bodies (EMBs) across the world and reputed international organizations. The portal is managed by Election Commission of India.

Preprations in the five states of Chhatisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Rajasthan and Telangana are in full swing. The dates of elections are as follows:
Chhattisgarh - 12th and 20th November (2 phases)
Madhya Pradesh - 28th November
Mizoram - 28th November
Rajasthan - 7th December
Telangana - 7th December
Counting for all the five states will be held on December 11, 2018.
Voter Facilitation Centres have been activated in all the districts. Special campaign including hands on experience, has been undertaken on EVM & VVPAT awareness starting September 2018. Camps are being organised to give hands-on experience to people on EVM and VVPAT especially to familarise them on the use of VVPAT for verifying their vote. Awareness film on EVM and VVPAT has been developed and widely disseminated through Cinemas, Cable TV besides Social Media including whatsapp besides others.
With focus on 'Accessible Elections', special initiatives have been rolled out to facilitate persons with disabilities. Besides making awareness material accessible, extending EPIC in Braille for blind electors, sensitization of polling officials and making polling station accessible, electors with disabilities are being mapped Polling Station wise so that requisite facilitation can be extended on poll day. Special camps are being held for PwDs to assist them for enrolment as well as to apprise them on various facilitation measures being extended at the Polling station for their participation. The Commission has also directed to issue Accessible Photo Voter Slips with Braille Features to Persons with Visual Impairment or Blind.
Mobilisation activities are being taken up across the states covering all polling stations to motivate people toward electoral participation. Information regarding dates, identity documents needed, do's and don't's at polling station are being disseminated besides promotion ethical and informed participation. Information on NOTA is also being disseminated. Students are supporting ECI SVEEP initiatives by participating in large numbers in painting competitions, sports activities and similar events being organised by the election officials.
Electoral Literacy Clubs and Chunav pathshalas launched few months back are proving to be vibrant platforms for disseminating information on the electoral process.
Voter Guide (in Vernacular / English) shall be handed over to every household ahead of the elections, giving information about the date and time of polls, contact details of the BLOs, important websites, helpline numbers, documents required for identification at the polling station besides other important information including the Do’s and Don’ts for voters at the polling station. This Voter Guide Brochure will be distributed along with the Photo Voter Slips by the BLOs.
Pics: Mock elections being done in Mizoram; EVM/VVPAT demo being given to a PwD elector in telangana; Human Chain formed in Chhattisgarh; Painting by students in Madhya Pradesh; School students painting in Rajasthan; Voter Guide;
Elections were announced by the Commission on 5th October 2018. the detailed press note can be seen at https://eci.nic.in/eci_main1/Current/PN_06102018.pdf

Election Commission of India, in its commitment towards Accessible Elections, organised Sign Language Training Session for officials of the Commission in collaboration with ISLRTC (Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre) on September 12, 2018 at ECI Headquarters in New Delhi.
The training was conducted by experts from ISLRTC (Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre) wherein the officers were acquainted with basic as well as election related sign languages symbols such as Election, Identity Card, Address and Polling Booth etc. Besides, information related to basic etiquette while conversing with persons with disabilities was also shared with the Officials of the Commission and they were sensitized regarding the needs of Deaf persons. The session saw enthusiastic participation of the officials. A sensitization activity was conducted through a live demonstration of a mock poll to understand the frequently asked questions/ issues of the deaf voters.
The aim of the workshop was to sensitize election officials to the needs of persons with disabilities so as to be better able to respond to their needs & facilitate them during the election process.
In July 2018, Election Commission of India organised a two day National Consultation on Accessible Elections in New Delhi where the Commission declared a series of facilitation measures for Persons with Disabilities, including training and sensitisation of Election Officials.

Released on January 25, 2018 – the Eighth National Voters’ Day at New Delhi by the Hon’ble President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, VoICE India is a bi-annual magazine that aims to showcase the national initiatives and innovations in the field of voter education and outreach in India.
The magazine focuses on maximizing the national experience – sharing in voter education and learning and would be a repository of good practice from across the country to inspire the election officials to emulate and implement successful endeavors. The magazine is in English and Hindi. The publication would also be shared with various public libraries, Schools and Colleges/ Universities.
The cover story for the first edition revolves around a challenging enterprise undertaken under the last year’s theme ‘Empowering Young and Future Voters’ mainstreaming of Electoral Literacy through setting up Electoral Literacy Clubs. The issues also consist of Best Electoral Practices Awards, 2018 and some of the best practices of 2017 from different Indian States.
Voice India would also serve as a platform for bringing forth stories and experiences from the grass roots so that the exchange of information and learning is not just uni-dimensional.

The very foundation of a democracy lies in the representation of all stakeholders and an indispensable part of nation-building starts with the inclusion of all in its electoral process. To uphold the spirit of free and fair elections, Election Commission of India declared ‘Accessible Elections’ as the theme for this year’s National Voters’ Day, i.e. 25th January 2018. The theme seamlessly integrates with the underlying philosophy of universal adult suffrage and the concept of ‘No Voter to be Left Behind.’
On 3rd and 4th July 2018, the Election Commission of India organized a National Consultation on Accessible Elections at ‘The Lalit’, New Delhi, wherein all the 36 Chief Electoral Officers and representatives from Civil Society Organisations, working in the field of Disability deliberated upon ways and means to make elections completely accessible to Persons with Disabilities.
The two-day Consultation was also attended by representatives of national political parties and senior officials from Ministries apart from notable media organisations.
Ahead of the National Consultation, a series of Consultations with the stakeholders were conducted in Districts and States across the country to identify the existing barriers and challenges, assess the implementation of the directives given by Commission on the subject, consolidate and gain from good practices (including innovations and technological support) and for further engagement with the stakeholders. The reports of the Consultations from the States were documented into the Consultation Reader and the same were carefully assessed and analyzed in the National Consultation.
Recommendations of the National Consultation would pave the way for a policy document on ‘Accessible Elections’ and action plan for the upcoming elections.
Background
To make elections accessible to persons with disabilities, efforts have been taken up in past years. A well designed framework of guidelines has been directed by Commission for facilitating PwDs at every step in the electoral process. Many States and Union Territories have done exemplary work for overcoming the barriers and creating accessible and friendly environment for PwDs. The International Conference on ‘Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) in Electoral Processes’, held in January, 2018, aided to consolidate and gain from international experience. Prior to this, the Commission's resolve in support of inclusion of PwDs has also been conveyed through official directives dated March 12, 2016 and September 7, 2016.
Schedule
3rd July, 2018
09:30 am - 10:30 am Registration
10:30 am - 11:15 am Inaugural Session
11:30 am - 01:30 pm Technical Session -I (Accessible Elections-Sharing of Initiatives)
02:00 pm - 05:30 pm Technical Session-II (Group Tasks)
4th July, 2018
09:15 am - 01:45 pm Technical Session-II (Thematic Presentations)
09:15 am - 10:30 am Theme: Accessible Registration process including use of IT
10:45 am - 12:15 pm Theme: Accessible Polling Station including EVM/VVPAT and other Facilitation measures
12:15 pm - 01:45 pm Theme: Voter Education and Leveraging Partnerships
02:30 pm - 04:00 pm Closing Session
Proceedings
Day 1
The National Consultation on Accessible Elections opened with an enthusiastic start with the participation of more than 50 Civil Society Organizations and all the Chief Electoral Officers of States/UTs besides members of National Political Parties and Ministries, Government of India.Reaffirming ECI’s commitment to make elections entirely inclusive, accessible and hassle free for PwDs, Chief Election Commissioner Mr O P Rawat said in the inaugural session - “Despite having International, National laws and treaties or procedures in place, there is still a gap in reaching out to PwDs because of the apathy towards electoral process. I urge all the participants to suggest effective measures and help us devise a policy that can serve as a model framework for all Election Management Bodies of the world. Master Ram Chandra, a technician who was instrumental in creating the Jaipur Foot, which is now famous worldwide for providing assistance to PwDs and like him there are many famous as well as unsung heroes who are the part of war against disability.”
In addition to that, Election Commissioner Mr Ashok Lavasa highlighted the importance of collaboration with stakeholders and society as a whole, while laying emphasis on awareness initiatives and spirit of volunteering among people to make the entire electoral process accessible. Concluding his remarks he said - “More Sensitized we are, More Sensible we become.”
The first day of consultation also witnessed the launch of new dynamic website for ECI’s SVEEP (Systematic Voter’s Education and Electoral Participation) Division with a dedicated section on PwDs and state of the art security and accessibility features.
The first technical session commenced with a presentation by the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment followed by the presentation of Best Practices on Accessible Elections by the Chief Electoral Officers of Karnataka, West Bengal, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Meghalaya and District Election Officer of Mandya, Karnataka.
Break Out Groups
Post lunch, the participants of the National Consultation were divided into five groups, for discussions under the second technical session, to cover specific disabilities.
Group 1: Blindness and Low Vision
Group 2: Deaf and hard of hearing and mental illness
Group 3: Locomotor Disability including cerebral palsy, leprosy cured, dwarfism, acid attack victims, muscular dystrophy
Group 4: Intellectual disability including autism, specific learning disability
Group 5: Multiple disabilities including deaf-blindness
The groups read through the reports submitted by States/UT and assessed barriers, challenges specific to the disabilities; studied existing initiatives, took inputs from the participating CSOs and came up with findings and recommendations for thematic presentations.
Day 2
The second day of the consultation observed three panel discussions under the final technical session which featured presentations from representatives from each of the five groups. The theme for these panel discussions were as follows –
Theme 1: Accessible Registration Process including use of IT
Theme 2 : Accessible Polling Station including EVM/VVPAT & other Facilitation measures
Theme 3 : Voter Education and leveraging Partnerships
The Closing Session of the National Consultation on Accessible Elections was graced by the presence of Hon'ble Chief Election Commissioner Mr O. P. Rawat, and Election Commissioners Mr Sunil Arora and Mr Ashok Lavasa. The Commission announced the following measures for the facilitation of PwDs.
Printing of EPIC (Electors Photo Identity Card) with Braille for Persons with Visual Impairment or Blind,
Accessible Communication Awareness Materials
A Mobile Application to motivate and educate
Appointment of Disability Coordinators at AC, District and State Level 5. Cascaded training on Accessibility to Poll officials
Auxiliary Polling Stations
Accessible Photo Voter Slips
Sign Language window in all the audio visual training and advertisement content material for the convenience of deaf persons
Free Transport Facility for PwDs and their Assistants
A new Accessible Division in India International Institute of Democracy and Electoral Management (IIIDEM), New Delhi
Strategic Framework for Accessible Elections
The deliberations held during the two day consultation resulted in a comprehensive, “Strategic Framework on Accessible Elections” which will help in making electoral process more accessible in the forthcoming State and National Elections. It would be a significant step in pursuit of Election Commission’s mission to leave no voter behind. The Strategic Framework on Accessible Elections is built around sensitization through education and training, community involvement of different sections of society, effective partnership with institutions and origination and creation of facilities to cater to the specific needs of Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) with a view to increasing their participation.
You can read more about the Strategic Framework and its contents by following the given link - http://ecisveep.nic.in/news/election-commission-of-india-unveils-strategic-framework-on-accessible-elections-r3/

Taking forward its continuous efforts of building an active democratic citizenry in the country, the Systematic Voters' Education and Electoral Participation division of ECI has undertaken a new initiative by the name of Electoral Literacy Clubs for developing a culture of avid electoral engagement and making informed and ethical ballot decisions among citizens of the country.
The Electoral Literacy Clubs or ELCs program was officially launched on National Voters' Day 2018 in the august presence of the Hon'ble President of India. ELCs are informal learning groups which being set up across the country as direct interventions of ECI for promoting electoral literacy among Indian citizens of all ages by engaging them in interesting and experiential hands-on learning activities in their local languages in a strictly apolitical, non-partisan and neutral manner.
Three different kinds of interventions have been designed under the ELCs program. First is ELC Future Voters which are being set up in Secondary and Senior Secondary Schools all across India to target future voters in the age-group of 14 to 17 years who are studying in Classes IX to XII. These ELCs will have all of the students from Classes IX, X, XI and XII as its members.
Electoral Literacy Clubs are also being set up in colleges across India as ELC New Voters for targeting the age-group of 18 to 21 years old who are pursuing their graduation.The overarching goal of ELCs program is to make the future and new voters of the country fully confident of how, when, where, what and why of democratic elections. They should develop an understanding of the value of their vote, significance of sanctity and secrecy of their vote, and a conviction of making mature, competent and ethical ballot decisions. They should become interested and excited for exercising their very first ballot decision in an ethical and informed fashion as soon as they become 18 years old. In quantifiable terms, the outcome of ELCs would mean increased electoral registration and enhanced voter turnout.
And for reaching out to the population left outside of the formal education structures, ELCs shall be set up at every Polling Station by the name of Chunav Pathshala. Chunav Pathshala will have members from the village or community to which the polling station belongs. While there will be significant focus on school dropouts, the Chunav Pathshala will also aim to be representative of the entire village's demographic composition.
To successfully roll-out this tremendous project, fine attention has been given to its implementation at ground level. Each ELC will be facilitated by a convener who will operate under the nodal officer for their district. To retain the pedagogical essence of all the ELC activities, a series of structured workshops have been designed for the conveners. Workshops were conducted for State Level Master Trainers (SLMTs) from the 36 States and Union Territories of the country in four batches of 40-50 participants each during February-March 2018 in New Delhi.These SLMTs shall further conduct workshops for District Level Master Trainers (DLMTs) who will then train the specific ELC conveners falling in their respective districts.
ELCs have been envisaged to serve as a vibrant hub of Elections related interaction for promoting electoral literacy and electoral participation in the country. The program has the potential of becoming the largest experiment of its kind in the field of voter education with over 2 lakh proposed ELCs across the length and breadth of the country.
Resources
http://ecisveep.nic.in/files/category/12-elcs/

National Elections Quiz (NEQ) 2018, a pan-India knowledge venture on elections and electoral processes is perhaps the World's largest inter school quiz contest on elections witnessing an astounding participation of 13,63,982 students from 38,160 schools! A brainchild of the Systematic Voters' Education and Electoral Participation SVEEP division of the Election Commission of India, it is aimed as an outreach initiative for the future electors of the country dedicated to ECI's theme for the year 2017, Empowering Young and Future Electors. NEQ is an extension of the Interactive School Engagement (ISE) programme (Phase I and Phase II) that covered more than 55 lakh students from nearly 30,000 schools. NEQ 2018, the integrated communicative effort that started in November 2017, concluded on the 16th of January, 2018 with the Grand Finale taking place at the Rajya Sabha TV Studios in New Delhi.
Planned in a ladder-like structure, the overall aim of the endeavour is- To engage high-school students from Classes IX to XII (in the age-group of 14-17 years) – the future voters of India, in a self-learning exercise about elections and electoral process and aid in building an aware and informed electorate of the future. Treading the length and breadth of the country, the structure of NEQ 2018 adhered to the following outline-
Level 1: The Intra-School Round
Scheduled between the 1st and 15th of November 2017, the Intra-School Round comprised a set of functional and essential questions testing the participants' basic electoral knowledge. The competition was organized entirely by schools within their campus ambits with content assistance from Election Commission of India and the District Election Officers. The winners advanced to the next stage of the Quiz.
Level 2: The District Round
Organized between 27th November to 3rd December 2017, the District Round was a collaborative effort shared by the District Election Officers (DEOs) and the District Education Departments. The participants competed through a written question paper of moderate difficulty. The two-member teams scoring the highest advanced to the State Round.
Level 3: The State Round
Planned around the year-end as the penultimate on-stage event with several rounds of rigorous quizzing, the State Round for NEQ 2018 witnessed the transfer of batons to the Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) who served as bandmasters for the final level before letting the scene shift to the National Capital.
Delhi Darshan
With the NEQ Nationals itinerary beginning from the 13th of January, 2018 (Saturday), the NEQ State acers were congratulated at the Commission Headquarters (Nirvachan Sadan) by Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Umesh Sinha and Director (SVEEP) Padma Angmo who extended their best wishes before the participants were taken on a guided tour of the city- to the Rashtrapati Bhavan and the Qutb Complex. Staggered across the following two days, the educative trip or, the Delhi Darshan, also included visits to popular places of attraction like, the Red Fort, Humayun's Tomb, Elections Museum, Gandhi Smriti and the Birla Mandir. As a bonus, participants also visited NEQ's partner- Facebook India's office in Delhi.
NEQ Collaborations
Taking place over the course of 3 days from the 14th January, 2018 to 16th January, 2018 at the Rajya Sabha TV Studios in New Delhi and receiving content support from Jesus and Mary College and Ambedkar University, the Zonal Finals and the Grand Finale of NEQ 2018 included questions on the following themes and many more- Elections in India, The Election Commission of lndia, History of Democracies and Elections, Voting Processes, Voter Education and Literacy, National Voters' Day & its Inception, Electoral Technology, Electoral Terminology Rules- The Model Code of Conduct, Landmark Steps and Measures, Popular Stories, Personalities, Elections across the world, Electoral Management Bodies, Types of Elections, International Electoral Organizations and Foundations, Popular Culture and Elections, Election Symbols, Elections to Local Bodies, Women and Elections, Constituent Assembly Debates on Universal Suffrage and Famous Parliamentary Debates on Elections.
Level 4: The Zonal Finals
Six in number and scheduled on just two days, the Zonal Finals witnessed some intense and high-octane quizzing from the 72 State Winners (36 teams) as they gave their all-in and battled for a berth in the Top 6. At the end of three exciting days of contest, teams from Manipur (from the North-East Semi Finals), Puducherry (from the South Zone Semi-Finals), Goa (representing the West Zone), Delhi (from the Special Central Zone), Jharkhand (representing the East Zone) and Jammu & Kashmir (from the North Zone) edged past 60 equally brilliant contenders to scalp a place in the much coveted Finale.
Level 5: The National FinalsAnchored by World Quizzing Champion (2014) Vikram Joshi, the Grand Finale of NEQ 2018 was easily a battle of nerves, wits and guts. Featuring some spectacular answering by the 6 teams, but marked by a consistent lead by the team from DPS, Ranchi representing Jharkhand, the Finale comprised 4 rounds- two general, an innovative grid round and one on the buzzer, with none of the 12 challengers leaving an ounce of space for error. Doing an encore of their Semi-Finals century record and scoring a stupendous 105 points in the mind-sport contest, team Jharkhand represented by Madhur Jain and Aditya Kumar, eventually went to clinch a thriller trouncing everyone to seal their place as the first National Champions of the National Elections Quiz. Giving a tough-fight but finishing 2nd was R. Mithun Krishna and V.Vishnu Priya from Puducherry with the all-boys team from Manipur comprising Ashmaan Mainali and Shangker Singh Laishram standing 3rd. Teams from Delhi, Goa and Jammu & Kashmir finished 4th, 5th and 6th respectively.
Organized on the evening of the 16th at Nirvachan Sadan lawns, the post-event presentation ceremony was graced by Chief Election Commissioner A.K Joti, Election Commissioner O.P Rawat and Election Commissioner Sunil Arora, who felicitated the winners drawing close to nearly three month long exercise .
A one-of-a-kind endeavour seeking to engage with and initiate a conversation with the youth of India on the fulcrum of Indian democracy, NEQ 2018- the World's Largest Quiz on Elections, should ideally be viewed as a part of an interlinked communicative project (including the Interactive School Engagement programme and Electoral Literacy Clubs) that strives to achieve the twin goals of habit-formation and behaviour-change specifically with regard to one of its core stakeholders, upon which hinges the destiny of the nation.
Catch the premiere of the 7-part series- National Elections Quiz 2018 only on Rajya Sabha TV today at 5:00 pm. To know more about the Election Commission of India's knowledge-venture for the youth, follow us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/EveryVoteCountsIN/) and Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGdsgdPfwnwYF1l8YTFkknA) or, Rajya Sabha TV at https://www.youtube.com/user/rajyasabhatv.
An event, supported by Facebook, watch the Grand Finale of NEQ 2018 via Facebook Live on our page India Votes, Facebook India and Governments, Politics and Non-Profits on Facebook in India and South Asia.
List of winners from State rounds:
North Zone:
Chandigarh
Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 16, Chandigarh
Ankur Goyat
Ankush Goyat
Haryana
Aarohi Model Senior Secondary School, Chhajpur Kalan, Panipat
Minakshi
Muskan
Himachal Pradesh
Govt. Sr. Sec. School, Girls Sultanpur, District Kullu
Dimple
Neha
Jammu and Kashmir
GHSS Parnalla Billawar, Kathua
Atul Khajuria
Sonali Sihrotra
Punjab
Baba Gola Govt. Senior Secondary School, Banga, S.B.S. Nagar, Nawanshahr
Neha
Kusum
Uttarakhand
Janta Inter College, Rudrpur, Udham Singh Nagar
Baljeet Singh
Krishant Kumar
East Zone:
Assam
Delhi Public School, Numaligarh
Sarfaraz Nawaz Hussain
Vishal Choudhury
Bihar
Utkramit Uchcha Vidyalaya, Barka Gaon,
Buxar Kamta Shiromani Uchcha Vidyalaya, Keshath, Buxar
Rahul Kumar
Manshi Singh
Jharkhand
Delhi Public School, Ranchi
Madhur Jain
Aditya Kumar
Odisha
Zilla School, Bhadrak
Afia Naaz
Prabhudatta Behera
Sikkim
Mangshila Sr. Secondary School, North
Dikcha Lawaghan
Roma Limboo
West Bengal
Fatapukur Saradamoni Bidyalaya, Jalpaiguri
Riya Sarkar
Dipa Jha
West Zone:
Gujarat
Anjuman Sarvajanik High School, Radhanpur, Patan
Adityana High School, Porbandar
Bhatti Alamkhan A.
Khunti Kiran Masribhai
Goa
People's Higher Secondary School, Panaji
Sachin Panicker
Ashlesha Naik
Dadra and Nagar Haveli
Govt Higher Secondary School, Silvassa
Nira S. Singh
Vaibhav B. Kumar
Daman and Diu
Shree Machhi Mahajan English Medium School, Nani Daman, Daman
Priyansu Kumar Sah
Sheikh Aamirnurain
Maharashtra
Abasaheb Kakade, Shevgao, Ahmednagar
B.G.P. Sahyadri Junior College, Sangamner, Ahmednagar
Murdare Chaitanya Somnath
Patil Avdhoot Bhagwan
Rajasthan
Adarsh Government Senior Secondary School
Balu Singh Devra
Amit Kumar Purohit
South Zone:
Andhra Pradesh
Sri Chaitanya School, Ravulapalem, East Godavari District
Bhashyam High School, Chandramouli Nagar, Guntur
K. Bheemeswara Vijaya Verma
K. Navya
Karnataka
F.M. Dabali PU College, Shirahatti, Gadag
Suma S. Bidave
Basayya M. Guruwodeyyar
Kerala
Govt. Vocational Higher Secondary School, Mananthavady, Wayanad
Arjunan S.P
Akmal E.K
Puducherry
St. Patric Matric Higher Secondary School, Puducherry
V. Vishnu Priya
R. Mithun Krishna
Tamil Nadu
Cheran Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Vennaimalai, Karur
B Praveen
T Praveen Kumar
Telangana
ZPSS Yerrupalem
Khammam Narayana Best Foundation School, Madhira, Khammam
Ch. Gopi Nath
P. Swathi
North East Zone:
Arunachal Pradesh
Government Higher Secondary School, Tirap District
Ms Jinliam Suyang
Somu Barman
Manipur
Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Senapati
Ashmaan Mainali
Shangker Singh Laishram
Meghalaya
JNV Nongpyndeng Nongstoin, West Khasi Hills
Shanborlang Donshiew
Brington Suting
Mizoram
Govt. Republic Higher Secondary School, Aizawl
Lianthanzuala
Ruthi Zonuntluangi
Nagaland
Ministers' Hill Baptist Higher Secondary School, Kohima
Merio Ngullie
Kekhriese Yhoshu
Tripura
Shishu Bihar HS School, Agartala
Amisha Chakraborty
Binita Paul
Special Central Zone:
Andaman and Nicobar
Pratick
Pratik Yadav
Chhattisgarh
Municipal Higher Secondary School, Mungeli
Nageshwar Prasad Sahu
Vibhav Singh Rajput
Delhi
Jain Bharti Mrigavati Vidyalaya, Alipur, North Delhi
Vani Saini
Shubham Khatri
Lakshadweep
Govt. Senior Secondary School, Agatti
Shanawas Hussain
Rahmathbi TKP
Madhya Pradesh
Government Excellence School Multai, Betul
Tanish Sahu
Pratham Malviya
Uttar Pradesh
S.H. Sen Secondary School (Boys), AMU Aligarh
Government Inter College, Etah
Chandan Gupta
Jitendra Giri

Election Commission of India widens its reach through NIOS Community Radio through a series named ‘Mat evam Matdan, kare Loktantra nirman’. This series on elections is a joint initiative of ECI and NIOS-CR where different aspects of elections and the election processes would be explored.
The first programme was broadcast live with Mr. Umesh Sinha, Deputy Election Commissioner, Election Commission of India, answering the queries on voter enrollment and registration on 'NIOS-CR' FM 91.2 MHz on 23rd June 2017. The next programme dealing with ‘Systematic Voters’ Education & Electoral Participation (SVEEP), a flagship programme of Election of India that spreads awareness on elections, was broadcast live on 20th July 2017. The third episode in the series introduced the listeners to Electronic Voting Machines and NOTA which was broadcasted on August 17th, 2017. In the fourth episode, which was broadcast on 21st September 2017, the presidential election process was elucidated.
This one-hour programme, to be aired monthly, incorporates interview/ panel discussion with expert(s) along with small snippets of different creatives developed by ECI to spread awareness on the importance of elections such as songs, jingles, audio/ video plays, statements by icons, advertisements etc. This makes the radio programme even more informative and interesting. Moreover, a question is posed at the end of each programme and first 25 correct entries are given a prize by Election commission of India.
National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) is an autonomous institution under Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) Government of India and caters to the educational requirements of out of school youth of India. With 2.3 million learners on rolls, NIOS has emerged as the largest open schooling organization in the world.
The Community Radio Station of NIOS, known as NIOS-CR FM 91.2 MHz, covers approximately more than 10 lakh people, as it reaches out to listeners up to a radius of 8-10 kms of area. It works with 14+ years old school dropouts, where over 75% of learners fall in the age group of 14-25 years. ECI has taken this new initiative on NIOS-CR with an aim to spread awareness on issues related to elections among these young adults.
The series ‘Mat evam Matdan, kare Loktantra nirman’ produced in collaboration with ECI would also be aired from 167 community radios pan India through Federation of Community Radio Association (FCRS).

Interactive School Engagement(ISE) is an outreach initiative under the flagship SVEEP programme of the Election Commission of India. Under ISE, election officials interact with the students of Class IX-XII, and reply to their queries regarding elections and the electoral process, and sensitise the students about the importance of electoral participation by eligible citizens.
Under the first phase of Interactive School Engagement (ISE), 25,11,594 students from 11,800 schools were covered in January 2017.
Background
Several international studies suggest that the first three elections for which a voter is qualified are of defining importance, and if voting does not become a routine event early in a person’s life, the potential for that individual to participate consistently may be lost.
Election Commission of India has been targeting young and future voters through its voter education and outreach programme SVEEP. The young people falling within the 15-17years age group have been identified by ECI as the ‘Future Voters’. The theme for 7th National Voters’ Day (NVD) was ‘Empowering Young and Future Voters’ and the same is the focus of ECI in the year 2017.
Interactive School programme (ISE) has been conceptualized to target at the future voters studying in schools so as to sensitise them about the electoral process in general and about the registration and voting procedure in particular. The ISE is also meant to provide a platform to connect future voters with the election machinery.
Component
The election officials at state, district and constituency level directly interact with the students in identified schools. Different schools are selected in each of the two phases every year so as to cover the maximum number of schools and school going children. Record is maintained on the schools covered in the State/Districts so as to plan the coverage of all Schools once within a period of 3-4 years.
The main component of each interaction with school has the following component:
All EROs/ROs cover atleast one school within their constituency in each phase to interact with the students in 15-17 year age group (9th-12th standard). The ERO is equipped with a kit and uses the same for interaction with the school students.
Similarly DEOs and CEOs cover atleast one school, within their district and State/UT respectively during the same period. It is ensured that those Schools are covered by DEO and CEO that are not covered by the EROs.
CEOs ensure that rural and urban schools are equally covered and suitable components from the kit are used based on the target audience and their familiarity with the format/medium.
The students are given the badge of ‘Future Voter’ and the brochure, as given in the kit.
Selected students (based on the best question asked or any similar criteria) are suitably rewarded with non-monetary incentives like merchandise item, certificate of appreciation etc.
Additional
In some districts, volunteering students are invited to watch the election process right from filing of nominations till counting of votes in election states/UTs. In non-election states and UTs, students are given the opportunity to have a guided tour of a model Voter Facilitation centre or election museum.
Period
The entire exercise is carried out within a month, every year in two phases each as given:
1st Phase – January, ahead of the National Voters’ Day (J&K, Uttarakhand where schools remain closed throughout January, may extend it till March)
2nd Phase – July, ahead of the Summary Revision
Reporting Format
A report on the number of schools covered district wise is submitted to the CEO and to ECI.
Question Bank
EROs also list out the questions put forth to them by the students. The databank of these Questions is maintained

Activities

About Us

Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) is a programme of multi interventions through different modes and media designed to educate citizens, electors and voters about the electoral process in order to increase their awareness and participation in the electoral processes. SVEEP is designed according to the socio-economic, cultural and demographic profile of the state as well as the history of electoral participation in previous rounds of elections and learning thereof.

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Election Commission of India

The Election Commission of India is an autonomous constitutional authority responsible for administering election processes in India. The body administers elections to the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, State Legislative Assemblies in India, and the offices of the President and Vice President in the country. The Election Commission operates under the authority of Constitution per Article 324, and subsequently enacted Representation of the People Act.